LONDON — Alfred Dunhill has made a number of management appointments as it eyes further retail expansion in North America, the Middle East and Asia, one of its largest markets, WWD has learned. An announcement is expected today.
In the U.S., the Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned brand currently operates one flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York and has wholesale accounts with stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. In the Middle East, the brand operates five stores in Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Qatar.
Andrew Maag, chief executive officer of Dunhill London, said that while a strong focus will be on Asia in 2018, “the Americas and the Middle East are incredibly important for us, which is why we are bringing these new leaders to the business to build upon our current foundation.”
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The brand has set store openings in Vancouver, Canada next fall and is increasing its space at the Dubai Mall to encompass a barber and an Alfie’s café concept. The company has recently launched a new store concept at Beijing’s SKP as well as a revamp of its Ginza, Tokyo store.
The firm has appointed Mathieu Kraut as brand president of the Americas, effective Nov. 28. Kraut joins Dunhill from Gucci, where he oversaw specialty retail, and his goal is to grow the business in the Americas with store expansions and wholesale partnerships in the U.S. and Canada.
Georges Barakat was named brand director for Middle East, India, Turkey, Africa and Russia and will take up his role at the beginning of January. Barakat is formerly of Samsung, where he was regional director for MENA. Barakat is charged with growing the brand’s presence in the Middle East and pursuing business opportunities in new markets.
The company has also created the role of a global private client manager, who will act as a luxury concierge and appointed an in-house store design and architecture director who will manage the roll out of the new store concept.
The openings and appointments come at a pivotal moment for Dunhill: Earlier this month Richemont reported that in the first half of fiscal 2017-18 both Dunhill and Lancel returned to growth. The brands are included in Richemont’s Other category, which includes Montblanc, the fashion and businesses and its watch component manufacturing activities. The division saw sales grow 3 percent in the six months and operating margin improve to 0.7 percent.